Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Shades]

I started a location using the search system so I know it has a magma pipe somewhere, what do people recommend to find out where, or should I just mine for miles and miles.

[BurnedToast]

the easiest way, assuming you don't mind one of your zlevels being ugly, is to just dig down a few levels (or just use the bottom level) and then make a grid of tunnels over the whole map. eventually someone will hit warm stone, and now you know where it is.

[Aqizzar]

Eh.  I just dig exploratory holes from the surface.  The top of the pipe will never be more than about three or four levels down, and probably just two.  Parse out the map into region segments and try to remember which one the embarker said the pipe was in.  You want to actually breach the thing (obviously from the top) so that it's revealed, not just have a vague idea of where it is.

[Kogan Loloklam]

Do the grid thing, but space the lines out by 10. When you encounter obsidian, you know your in the area. Find out what one of the regional tiles the obsidian zone is in, and dig down through the center of that zone.

[Shades]

hmm my top 4 levels are all soil types (although one biome has an aquifier at that level) but I should be able to grid through that pretty fast.

[Salmeuk]

If you want to find it through cheating (still not sure if this threads point was realistic strategies or just finding it) make sure you have a trade depot built, press "shift-->D"  (capital D, the button you use to path the caravan to your depot).

Change your view down a few z-levels, making sure you haven't breached the z-level your viewing, the look around the level a bit. There is a magma pipe if there is a large area of red "x's" in a random place in the undiscovered rock.

The red "x's" usually denote a general area of the magma, so you shouldn't plan on the magma pipe being exactly where the x's are, but at least on the inside of the x-covered area.

Probably a confusing explanation, but it works efficiently and effectively.

[Mirtae]

Or you can export a map using 3Dwarf, and look about a bit. Thats how I find mine anyway.

[Brian]

If you want to find it through cheating (still not sure if this threads point was realistic strategies or just finding it) make sure you have a trade depot built, press "shift-->D"  (capital D, the button you use to path the caravan to your depot).

Change your view down a few z-levels, making sure you haven't breached the z-level your viewing, the look around the level a bit. There is a magma pipe if there is a large area of red "x's" in a random place in the undiscovered rock.

The red "x's" usually denote a general area of the magma, so you shouldn't plan on the magma pipe being exactly where the x's are, but at least on the inside of the x-covered area.

Probably a confusing explanation, but it works efficiently and effectively.

This is an interesting trick.  I tried it out on my map and kind of got the opposite effect.  On my lower, un-dug levels, I see X's everywhere except for a 50x50 blob.

[Shades]

This is an interesting trick.  I tried it out on my map and kind of got the opposite effect.  On my lower, un-dug levels, I see X's everywhere except for a 50x50 blob.

Thats what I get too, looks like that area is below and aquifer too, this could be interesting. Thanks for the help everyone.

[Brian]

I just confirmed that I have a magma pipe in my area.  It is heavily populated so I'm sealing it off for now...

[Corak]

All of these tips are excellent, though you don't necessarily need to cover the whole map. Look at where the magma is on your embark map to get a general idea where it will be in-game. If its in the top left corner... start mining up there...

[Sinned]

Also cheating, but I always run companion alongside. So if wanna know know where the pipe is at the start I just "zoom" over to a fire-imp/fireman/magaman (whatever, you get the idea) and I know where it is...

((note, fire imps can "jump out of the pit" and move around... so if you wait to long, this doesnt work always. Fireman/Magmaman though can leave the pit and stay stuck in the pipe where they are, these mostly keep working to find the pit/pond))